legerdemain

1 the art or skill of performing tricks or illusions for entertainment the illusionist's show is an entertaining blend of legerdemain and over-the-top showmanship Synonyms conjuring, hocus-pocus, magic, prestidigitationRelated Words deception, deceptiveness, trickery

2 the use of clever underhanded actions to achieve an end the reduction of the deficit is due in part to financial legerdemain that masks the true costs of running the government Synonyms artifice, chicane, chicanery, gamesmanship, hanky-panky, jiggery-pokery, jugglery, trickery, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, wileRelated Words artfulness, caginess (also cageyness), craftiness, cunning, deviousness, foxiness, oiliness, shadiness, sharpness, shiftiness, shrewdness, slickness, slipperiness, slyness, sneakiness, treachery, underhandedness, wiliness; crookedness, crookery, cunning, deceit, deceitfulness, deception, deceptiveness, dishonesty, dissimulation, double-dealing, dupery, duplicity, guile, guilefulness, hypocrisy, insincerity; fakery, humbuggery, imposture, quackery; dirty pool, dirty tricks; design, plotting, scheming, secrecy, stealthNear Antonyms artlessness, forthrightness, guilelessness, ingenuousness, sincerity; candidness, candor, directness, openness, plainness, plainspokenness